Prologue

Wish of a Chimera

He wondered what he was doing there, sitting with the famous sorceress known as Lina Inverse, watching her and the man next to her argue over the chicken that was sitting in front of them. The chimera had his hood down as usual and he wondered if they would ever solve the argument within the next five minutes, as they had been fork-fighting over it for fifteen. His narrow blue eye looked at it and for a moment, he had been tempted to just take the plate and take it to the table next to them, where he overheard a couple talking about taking a walk on the beach after dinner. But it looked like he was not going anywhere for a while.

"Give me that chicken, Gourry!!" the voice of Lina Inverse shrieked. "I called it FIRST!!" She had a glare in her red eyes that clearly told him to back off, but he was just as hungry as she. And it was obvious that she was going to win . . .

The chimera was glad for once of the curse that was brought upon him so many years ago. He did not need to eat or drink anything really. It was a preference if he wanted to or not. At times, he wished that he could not feel, either. Like the embarrassment he felt right now at being with such uncouth company. But he simply shook his head and looked around once more, the wire purple hair over his left eye. He wanted to take a look around the tavern they had walked into, making sure they would be able to leave this one without another fight.

"I told you, Lina, that was my chicken!" he heard Gourry's voice whining over his head as he elbowed her in the ribs. He heard the thud of someone falling to the ground and the chair falling down afterward. Well, that was not surprising, he thought to himself, still checking out the room. Few of the patrons noticed, but there was a couple who stared at the two for a moment before they went back to eating.

But there was someone who caught his eye. Someone who seemed different from the rest of the people in the room.

The chimera only took a glance at her for one moment. It was all he had before the chicken had been thrown at him in the head.

It bounced off him, as his head was of rock and his hair was of wire. Still, he was annoyed that something was thrown at him. The grease of the fried chicken in his wire hair was all it took for him to just glare at the two of them. "Who threw this?" His voice was calm, but cool at the same time. He did not appreciate the gesture at all.

Both of them looked to the other. Then, they pointed to the other one.

"Well, Lina tried grabbing the chicken from me, and---" Gourry started.

"I told you that was MINE!" Lina growled. "I'm on my time of the month and I don't have any powers! I need FOOD!"

He sighed. "I don't care about that. Don't hit me in the head again. I suggest you finish soon, because I think there's someone watching us." Then he got up, blinking once before he put his hand on his sword. "I'm going to go check it out. You two might as well finish---" he looked at the chicken that was on the table. "—the chicken. If you two decide not to order anything else, which I suggest you don't, meet me outside."

The two went back to fighting over the chicken immediately as soon as he started his sentence and he sighed heavily. This was getting him nowhere. He really needed to be searching for the Clair Bible and he wondered if maybe separating from them would help him out any. So, he pushed in the chair and started walking to the door, his boots thumping heavily against the floor. For a rock golem, one's footsteps would be heavy, after all.

That was when he saw the girl again. She was at the door in a black cloak, a hood over her head. Curly tendrils were hanging out and he realized that she must have known that he was here. At this, he decided to go up to her, his hand on his sword. If there was any trouble, he would be able to handle it from a mere woman.

But her voice was soft as it reached his ears. It was what she said that made him take his hand off the sword.

"Please. Just listen for a moment. I can help you find the Clair Bible, Zelgadis Greywords. You're about to become human again."